Dunedin (; Māori: Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. While Tauranga, Napier-Hastings and Hamilton have eclipsed the city in population in recent years to make it only the seventh largest city in New Zealand, Dunedin is still considered to be one of the four main cities of New Zealand for historic, cultural and geographic reasons.[7]

Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until superseded by Auckland on the creation of the Auckland Council in November 2010. Dunedin was the largest city in New Zealand by population until about 1900. The city population at 5 March 2013 was 120,246.[8] The Dunedin urban area lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the head of Otago Harbour. The harbour and hills around Dunedin are the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the surrounding valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour and the Pacific Ocean.

The city's largest industry is tertiary education – Dunedin is home to the University of Otago, New Zealand's first university (established 1869), and the Otago Polytechnic. Students account for a large proportion of the population; 21.6 percent of the city's population was aged between 15 and 24 at the 2006 census, compared to the New Zealand average of 14.2 percent.[9] In 2014, Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature.[10]

Contents

History1

Māori settlements1.1

European settlement1.2

Gold rush era1.3

Early Modern era1.4

Post-war developments1.5

Geography2

Inner city2.1

Hinterland2.2

List of suburbs2.3

Towns within city limits2.3.1

Climate2.4

Demographics3

Culture4

Dance4.1

Literature4.2

Music4.3

Choirs4.3.1

Instrumental classical and jazz ensembles4.3.2

Popular music4.3.3

Sport4.4

Major teams4.4.1

Major grounds and stadiums4.4.2

Theatre4.5

Visual arts4.6

Government5

Local5.1

Coat of Arms5.2

National5.3

Media6

Education7

Secondary7.1

Tertiary7.2

Public health and hospitals8

Transport9

Panoramas10

Notable people11

Events12

Annual events12.1

Past events12.2

Main sights13

Museums, art galleries, and libraries13.1

Churches13.2

Parks and gardens13.3

International relations14

Twin towns – Sister cities14.1

Further reading15

References16

Bibliography16.1

Notes16.2

External links17

History

Māori settlements

Archaeological evidence shows the first human (Māori) occupation of New Zealand occurred between AD 1250–1300,[3] with population concentrated along the southeast coast.[11] A camp site at Kaikai's Beach, near Otago Heads, has been dated from about that time.[12] There are numerous archaic (moa hunter) sites in what is now Dunedin, several of them large and permanently occupied, particularly in the 14th century.[13] The population contracted but expanded again with the evolution of the Classic culture which saw the building of several pā, fortified settlements, notably Pukekura at (Taiaroa Head), about 1650.[14] There was a settlement in what is now central Dunedin (Ōtepoti) occupied as late as about 1785 but abandoned by 1826.[15]

Maori tradition tells first of a people called Kahui Tipua living in the area, then Te Rapuwai, semi-legendary but considered to be historical. The next arrivals were Waitaha followed by Kāti Mamoe late in the 16th century and then Kai Tahu (Ngai Tahu in modern standard Māori) who arrived in the mid 17th century.[16] These migration waves have often been represented as 'invasions' in European accounts but modern scholarship has cast doubt on that. They were probably migrations like those of the European which incidentally resulted in bloodshed.[17]

The sealer John Boultbee recorded in the 1820s that the 'Kaika Otargo' (settlements around and near Otago Harbour) were the oldest and largest in the south.[18]

European settlement

Lieutenant James Cook stood off what is now the coast of Dunedin between 25 February 1770 and 5 March 1770, naming Cape Saunders (on the Otago Peninsula) and Saddle Hill. He reported penguins and seals in the vicinity, which led sealers to visit from the beginning of the 19th century.[19] The early years of sealing saw a feud between sealers and local Maori from 1810 to 1823, the "Sealers' War" sparked by an incident on Otago Harbour, but William Tucker became the first European to settle in the area in 1815.[20] Permanent European occupation dates from 1831, when the Weller brothers founded their whaling station at Otago, modern Otakou, on the Otago Harbour. Epidemics badly reduced the Maori population. By the late 1830s the Harbour had become an international whaling port. Johnny Jones established a farming settlement and a mission station, the South Island's first, at Waikouaiti in 1840.[21]

In 1844, the Deborah, captained by Thomas Wing and carrying (among others) his wife Lucy and a representative of the New Zealand Company, Frederick Tuckett, sailed south to determine the location of a planned Free Church settlement.[22] After inspecting several areas around the eastern coast of the south island, Tuckett selected the site which would become known as Dunedin.[23] (Tuckett turned down the site which would become Christchurch, as he felt the ground around the Avon river was swampy.)

The Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland, through a company called the Otago Association, founded Dunedin at the head of Otago Harbour in 1848 as the principal town of its special settlement. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.[16]Charles Kettle the city's surveyor, instructed to emulate the characteristics of Edinburgh, produced a striking, "Romantic" design.[24] There resulted both grand and quirky streets as the builders struggled and sometimes failed to construct his bold vision across the challenging landscape. Captain William Cargill, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, served as the secular leader of the new colony. The Reverend Thomas Burns, a nephew of the poet Robert Burns, provided spiritual guidance.

Gold rush era

In 1852, Dunedin became the capital of the Otago Province, the whole of New Zealand from the Waitaki south. In 1861 the discovery of gold at Gabriel's Gully, to the southwest, led to a rapid influx of people and saw Dunedin become New Zealand's first city by growth of population in 1865. The new arrivals included many Irish, but also Italians, Lebanese, French, Germans, Jews and Chinese.[25] The Dunedin Southern Cemetery was established in 1858, the Dunedin Northern Cemetery in 1872.[26]

Dunedin and the region industrialised and consolidated and the Main South Line connected the city with Christchurch in 1878 and Invercargill in 1879. Otago Boys' High School was founded in 1863. The University of Otago, the oldest university in New Zealand, in 1869.[27]Otago Girls' High School was established in 1871. Between 1881 and 1957, Dunedin was home to cable trams, being both one of the first and last such systems in the world. Early in the 1880s the inauguration of the frozen meat industry, with the first shipment leaving from Port Chalmers in 1882, saw the beginning of a later great national industry.[28]

^The description of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin as the four main centres neatly divides the country geographically into northern and southern halves of each of the two main islands. These centres are thus described in a wide range of fields, from encyclopedias of New Zealand to scientific research institutes, the tourism industry to nationwide organisations and government departments, and from the entertainment industry to newspaper reports.

^2013 Census Usually Resident Population Counts - Statistics New Zealand

^ abcdefQuickstats about Dunedin City

^ ab28 cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network

^(Hamel 2001); (Anderson, Allingham & Smith 1996); (Anderson 1998)

^(Anderson 1983)

^(Anderson, Allingham & Smith 1996) & (Hamel 2001)

^(Anderson 1998)

^Turton, Hanson "Introductory"in (Bathgate 1890); (Entwisle 2005)

^ ab(McLintock 1949)

^(Anderson 1983) & (Anderson 1998)

^Boultbee, J in (Begg & Begg 1979)

^Cook, James in (Beaglehole (ed) 1955–67)

^(Entwisle 2005)

^(Entwisle 1998)

^Byrne, T. B. "Wing, Thomas 1810–1888".

^Somerville, Ross. "Tuckett, Frederick 1807? – 1876".

^(Hocken 1898)

^(McLintock 1949); (McDonald 1965)

^Betteridge, Chris (28 July 2004). "Landscapes of Memory – breathing new life into old cemeteries" (PDF). NZ Historic Places Trust. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-14.

Annual events

Events

Notable people

The view from the summit of Signal Hill. Dunedin CBD is in the center of the image. The Otago Peninsula stretches out to the left

The view from the summit of Flagstaff. The city centre is on the right, and Mosgiel on the left. Mount Cargill is slightly right of centre

The view from the summit of Mount Cargill. The base of a television mast can be seen on the left, with the harbour and the peninsula beyond. The city centre is in the middle

A panorama from just east of the summit of Mount Cargill. The harbour runs from its entrance near the centre to the city centre on the right, the peninsula beyond. The base of a television mast is at the extreme left and right edges

180° view of Dunedin shot from the hills on the west. Mount Cargill is at the extreme left of picture, and the Otago Peninsula is beyond the harbour to the centre

Panoramas

In 1866, plans were made for a bridge across the Otago Harbour between Port Chalmers and Portobello,[49] but this grand scheme for an 1140-metre structure never eventuated. Plans were also mooted during the 1870s for a canal between the Pacific coast at Tomahawk and Andersons Bay, close to the head of the harbour.[50] This scheme also never came to fruition.

Buses in Dunedin are organised by the Otago Regional Council. A total of 64 buses operate on 17 weekday routes and 13 weeknight/weekend/holiday routes across the city. Buses are run by two operators, Ritchies Transport with three routes and Go Bus Transport with the remainder. Dunedin City Council-owned operator Citibus was a major player until 2011 when Passenger Transport(New Zealand) purchased Citibus from Dunedin City Holdings, and both companies were subsequently bought by Go Bus.

Three Designline-built buses, operated by Citibus on Dunedin urban routes

The Dunedin urban area is served by two State Highways, with an additional two State Highways and one tourist route serving other parts of the district. The main State Highway in Dunedin is State Highway 1, which runs in a north to south-west direction through the middle of the city, connecting Dunedin with Invercargill to the south and Timaru and Christchurch to the north. Daily passenger bus services such as the [46] operate between Dunedin and Christchurch. Between The Oval and Mosgiel, State Highway 1 follows the eleven-kilometre Dunedin Southern Motorway. Other State Highways in the city are: State Highway 86 connecting SH 1 at Allanton with Dunedin International Airport, State Highway 87 connecting SH 1 at Kinmont with SH 85 at Kyeburn via Middlemarch, serving the Dunedin city hinterland, and State Highway 88 connecting central Dunedin to the citys port facilities at Port Chalmers. Dunedin is the northeastern terminus of the Southern Scenic Route, a tourist highway connecting Dunedin to Te Anau via The Catlins, Invercargill and Fiordland.

Transport

Dunedin Public Hospital is the main public hospital in Dunedin. Other hospitals include the Mercy Hospital and the Wakari Hospital. The Dunedin Public Hospital and the Wakari Hospital, which are closely related, are operated by Southern DHB.

Dunedin is home to 12 secondary schools: eight state and four state-integrated. The oldest secondary school is state-run Otago Boys' High School, founded in 1863. Its sister school, Otago Girls' High School (1871) is the oldest state girls' secondary school in New Zealand, even though it preceded the state education system by six years.

The city is home to several prominent media-related production companies, notably Natural History New Zealand and Taylormade Media. Dunedin was the location of one of the four television broadcasting installations established in the sixties by the NZBC, operating under the name DNTV2.

The city is served by all major national radio and television stations. The city's main terrestrial television and FM radio transmitter sits atop Mount Cargill, north of the city, while the city's main AM transmitter is located at Highcliff, east of the city centre on the Otago Peninsula. Local radio stations include Radio Dunedin, community station Otago Access Radio (formerly Hills AM, then Toroa Radio), and the university radio station, Radio One. The city has one local television station, Dunedin Television, part of Allied Press.

The major daily newspaper is the Otago Daily Times, which is also the country's oldest daily newspaper and part of the Allied Press group. Weekly and bi-weekly community newspapers include The Star, Taieri Herald, the fortnightly street press POINT, and student magazines Critic (University of Otago) and Gyro (Otago Polytechnic).

National

The flag of the city of Dunedin is a banner of arms in white and green and featuring the castle, lymphad, ram's head and wheat sheafs as on the coat of arms.[45]

The Motto may be given in English as "By following in the steps of our forefathers." The compartment which is what the supporters stand on and to what the motto is attached is not normally part of the blazon but is left to the heraldic artist to decide.

The "Mural Crown" is a crown made of masonry or bricks and this is placed above the shield. The Supporters are the persons on either side of the shield. On the dexter side which is the right side from the shield carrier’s view but the left side for a viewer, is a Scotsman. He is clothed ("habited") with a "Philabeg" which is a belted plaid consisting of two widths of material stitched together. The plaid or tartan is of the Cameron clan. In his "exterior hand" which is the one furtherest from the shield he holds a Cromach which is a shepherd’s crook. The other supporter is a Maori Chief dressed in a "Korowai" or waist cloak. He has two huia feathers in his hair, and also has an "Aurei" or greenstone ear pendant and a "Hei Matau" which is a greenstone neck pendant. In his Exterior hand is a "Taiaha" or spear. The "All Proper" means that everything pertaining to the supporters is depicted in their natural colours.

The object in the base of the shield is next described. It is a three masted sailing ship ("Lymphad") on which the sail is furled as it would be when in a harbour. "Azure" means the ship is blue and the flag on the mast is the flag of Scotland (St Andrew’s Cross.) Then the objects on the fess are mentioned. These are; a Ram’s head and "affrontee" means it is facing forward, while "horned" means it is displaying horns coloured gold ("Or"). The head is placed between two wheat sheaves ("garbs") and of the last means that these are also coloured gold.

Translation of the Blazon. Firstly the shield is described. "Argent" means silver or white so this is the base colour of the shield. A "Fess" is a horizontal strip across the middle of the shield but "Dancette" means the edges of the fess are deeply set in a saw-tooth fashion. "Vert" means green so the fess is coloured green. Above this fess is placed a Castle with three towers. Sable means black so the castle is coloured black in outline. The castle is sitting on a rock which itself is sitting on the fess. The castle is made of stone ("masoned") and has some windows, a portcullis (castle entry point) and flags ("vanes") and all these objects are coloured red ("gules".)

The City of Dunedin has a Coat of Arms emblazoned; Argent above a Fess Dancette Vert, a Castle Triple-Towered Sable on a Rock issuing from the Fess, Masoned Argent, with Windows, Vanes and Portcullis Gules. In the base a Three-Masted Lymphad with Sail Furled Azure, Flagged of Scotland, a Ram's Head Affrontee Horned Or between Two Garbs of the last. Coronet: A Mural Crown. Supporters: On the dexter a Scotsman Habited with Philabeg and Plaid of the Clan Cameron, supporting in His Exterior Hand a Cromach; on the Sinister a Maori Chief Attired in Korowai, Two Huia Feathers in his hair, an Aurei and a Hei Matau and in His Exterior hand a Taiaha. All Proper. Motto: Maiorum Institutis Utendo.

Coat of Arms

The Dunedin City Council (DCC) governs the Dunedin City territorial authority. It is made up of an elected mayor and 14 additional councillors elected across three wards, one of whom gets chosen as deputy mayor. The current mayor, first elected in the 2010 mayoral election, is Dave Cull.

Local

Government

Dunedin has a substantial public art gallery, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, in the Octagon. The city contains numerous other galleries, including over a dozen dealer galleries, many of which are found south of the Octagon along Princes Street, Moray Place and Dowling Street. There are also several more experimental art spaces, notably the Blue Oyster Gallery in Dowling Street.

Major teams

Sport

Dunedin has also been home to a number of successful bands since the end of the Dunedin Sound era. Six60, Julian Temple Band, Two Cartoons, Males, Summer Thieves and Albion Place are all good examples of Dunedin bands to have received national and international acclaim in recent years.

Popular music

The Southern Sinfonia is a semi-professional orchestra based in Dunedin. Other instrumental ensembles include the Rare Byrds early music ensemble, the Collegiate Orchestra, and the Dunedin Youth Orchestra. Many schools also hold school orchestras and bands. There are also three brass bands in Dunedin: St. Kilda Brass, Kaikorai Brass,and Mosgiel Brass. The Otago Symphonic Band and City of Dunedin Pipe Band are also important Dunedin musical ensembles. Jazz bands include the City of Dunedin Jazz Orchestra, and the tricentenary Zimbe! Quintet.

The Dunedin RSA Choir regularly performs concerts and has played an important and valued role in Dunedin City's commemorative celebrations of significant historical events. ANZAC, of course, is one such occasion, and the ANZAC Revue held on the evening of every ANZAC Day, occupies a special place of honour in the choir's calendar.www.dunedinrsachoir.co.nz.

The all-female Dunedin Harmony Singers are an important part of the Dunedin culture.

The Southern Children's Choir, based in Marama Hall in the university, is Dunedin's main children's choir. Most schools in Dunedin have choirs, many having more than one. Notable school choirs include the Sacred Heart School Choir, the Balmacewen Intermediate School Special Choir, the Barock Choir of Otago Boys' High School and Otago Girls' High School, and also the St. Hilda's Collegiate Madrigal Choir.

The Southern Youth Choir is a concert-based youth choir, as is the charitable Cothram Foirfe.

The Dunedin Red Cross Choir (of New Zealand Red Cross), conducted by Eleanor Moyle, is one of only three Red Cross choirs globally. Established in 1942, this choir performs regularly in Dunedin at various Rest Homes and holds an annual concert at the Kings and Queens Performing Arts Centre.

Dunedin is home to many choirs. These include the following:

Choirs

Music

UNESCO established the Creative Cities Network to develop international co-operation among cities and encourage them to drive joint development partnerships in line with UNESCO’s global priorities of ‘culture and development’ and ‘sustainable development’. There are now 69 cities in the network, each reflecting one of UNESCO’s seven Creative City themes: folk art, gastronomy, literature, design, film or music. Dunedin is New Zealand’s first city to be appointed to the Creative City network.

Dunedin’s City of Literature online presence, www.cityofliterature.co.nz, showcases Dunedin as a literary city; taking pride in its past, illustrating its vibrant present, and designing for the future. The site presents 10 fast facts about Dunedin’s literary strengths. These strengths align with UNESCO’s list of criteria and characteristics a city must have to be considered a candidate for joining its Creative City network.

Dunedin’s application was driven by a steering committee and an advisory board of writers, librarians and academics from a range of Dunedin institutions. The bid highlighted the quality of the city’s considerable literary heritage, its diverse combination of literary events, businesses, institutions and organisations, plus its thriving community of writers, playwrights and lyricists.

In December 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature.[10] Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull said at the time “This announcement puts our city on the world map as a first-class literary city. We keep honourable company; other cities bestowed with City of Literature status include Edinburgh, Dublin, Iowa City, Melbourne, Reykjavík, Norwich and Kraków.” [44]

Literature

Dunedin is a regular venue for touring ballet and dance companies, and also has multiple dance studios.

Dance

Phone booths in Central Dunedin

First Church

Princes Street

Culture

Dunedin had an unemployment rate of 6.1% of people 15 years and over, compared to 5.1% nationally. The median annual income of all people 15 years and over was $19,400, compared to $24,400 nationally. Of those, 51.2% earned under $20,000, compared to 43.2% nationally, while 13.4% earned over $50,000, compared to 18.0% nationally.[9]

Of the residential population, 56,931 (48.0%) were male compared to 48.8% nationally, and 61,752 (52.0%) were female, compared to 51.2% nationally. The city had a median age of 35.0 years, 0.9 years below the national median age of 35.9 years. People aged 65 and over made up 13.4% of the population, compared to 12.3% nationally, and people under 15 years made up 16.8%, compared to 21.5% nationally. Due to the large tertiary education sector, people aged between 15 and 24 made up approximately 21.6% of the city's residential population.[9]

At the 2006 census, Dunedin City had a residential population of 118,683, an increase of 4,341, or 3.8 percent, since the 2001 census. There were 45,072 occupied dwellings, 3,615 unoccupied dwellings, and 240 dwellings under construction.[9]

Compared to New Zealand as a whole, Dunedin's demographics tend to show traits of the New Zealand education sector, largely caused by the city's high tertiary student population. These traits include a higher female population compared to males, a lower-than-average median age, a high proportion of people under 25 years, a higher proportion of people of European and Asian ethnicity and a lower proportion of Maori and Pacific Island ethnicities, higher unemployment, lower median income, and a higher proportion of those with school and post-school qualifications.[9]

Inland, beyond the heart of the city and into inland Otago the climate is sub-continental: winters are quite cold and dry, summers hot and dry. Thick freezing ground fogs are common in winter in the upper reaches of the Taieri River's course around Middlemarch, and in summer the temperature occasionally reaches 30 °C (86 °F).

Dunedin has relatively low rainfall in comparison to many of New Zealand's cities, with only some 750 millimetres (30 in) recorded per year. Despite this fact it is sometimes misguidedly regarded as a damp city, probably due to its rainfall occurring in drizzle or light rain (heavy rain is relatively rare). Dunedin is one of the cloudiest major centres in the country, recording approximately 1650 hours of bright sunshine per annum.[41]Prevailing wind in the city is mainly a sometimes cool southwesterly and during late spring will alternate with northeasterlies.[42] Warmer, dry northwest winds are also characteristic Foehn winds from the northwest. The circle of hills surrounding the inner city shelters the inner city from much of the prevailing weather, while hills just to the west of the city can often push inclement weather around to the west of the city.

The climate of Dunedin in general is temperate; however the city is recognised as having a large number of microclimates and the weather conditions often vary between suburbs mostly due to the city's topographical layout. Under the Köppen climate classification, Dunedin features an oceanic climate. The city's climate is also greatly modified by its proximity to the ocean. This leads to mild summers and cool winters. Winter is frosty but sunny, snowfall is common but significant snowfall is uncommon (perhaps every two or three years), except in the inland hill suburbs such as Halfway Bush and Wakari, which tend to receive a few days of snowfall each year. Spring can feature "four seasons in a day" weather, but from November to April it is generally settled and mild. Temperatures during summer can reach over 30 °C (86 °F)

Climate

Since local council reorganisation in the late 1980s, these are suburbs, but are not commonly regarded as such.

List of suburbs

To the east, Dunedin City includes the entirety of the Otago Peninsula, a long finger of land that formed the southeastern rim of the Dunedin Volcano.[39] The peninsula is lightly settled, almost entirely along the harbour coast, and much of it is maintained as a natural habitat by the Otago Peninsula Trust. The peninsula contains several fine beaches, and is home to a considerable number of rare species, such as yellow-eyed and Little penguins, seals, and shags. Most importantly, it contains the world's only mainland breeding colony of royal albatross, at Taiaroa Head on the peninsula's northeastern point.

To the north of the city's urban area is undulating hill country containing several small, mainly coastal, settlements, including Waitati, Warrington, Seacliff and Waikouaiti. State Highway 1 winds steeply through a series of hills here, notably The Kilmog.[39] These hills can be considered a coastal extension of the Silverpeaks Range.

Dunedin's hinterland encompasses a variety of different landforms. To the southwest lie the Taieri Plains, the broad, fertile lowland floodplains of the Taieri River and its major tributary the Waipori. These are moderately heavily settled, and contain the towns of Mosgiel, and Allanton.[39] They are separated from the coast by a range of low hills rising to some 300 metres (980 ft). Inland from the Taieri Plain is rough hill country. Close to the plain, much of this is forested, notably around Berwick and Lake Mahinerangi, and also around the Silverpeaks Range which lies northwest of the Dunedin urban area.[40] Beyond this, the land becomes drier and opens out into grass and tussock-covered land. A high, broad valley, the Strath-Taieri lies in Dunedin's far northwest, containing the town of Middlemarch, one of the area's few concentrations of population.

Beyond the inner range of hills lie Dunedin's outer suburbs, notably to the northwest, beyond Roslyn. This direction contains Taieri Road and Three Mile Hill, which between them formed the original road route to the Taieri Plains. The modern State Highway 1 follows a different route, passing through Caversham in the west and out past Saddle Hill. Lying between Saddle Hill and Caversham are the outer suburbs of Green Island and Abbotsford. Between Green Island and Roslyn lies the steep-sided valley of the Kaikorai Stream, which is today a residential and light industrial area. Suburban settlements – mostly regarded as separate townships – also lie along both edges of the Otago Harbour. Notable among these are Portobello and Macandrew Bay, on the Otago Peninsula coast, and Port Chalmers on the opposite side of the harbour. Port Chalmers provides Dunedin's main deep-water port, including the city's container port.

Dunedin is home to Baldwin Street, which, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the steepest street in the world. Its gradient is 1 in 2.9.[38] The long since abandoned Maryhill Cablecar route had a similar gradient close to its Mornington depot.

The heart of the city lies on the relatively flat land to the west of the head of the Stuart Street, which runs orthogonally to them, from the Dunedin Railway Station in the southeast, and steeply up to the suburb of Roslyn in the northwest. Many of the city's notable old buildings are located in the southern part of this area and on the inner ring of lower hills which surround the central city (most of these hills, such as Maori Hill, Pine Hill, and Maryhill, rise to some 200 metres (660 ft) above the plain). The head of the harbour includes a large area of reclaimed land ("The Southern Endowment"), much of which is used for light industry and warehousing. A large area of flat land, simply known colloquially as "The Flat" lies to the south and southwest of the city centre, and includes several larger and older suburbs, notably South Dunedin and St. Kilda. These are protected from the Pacific Ocean by a long line of dunes which run east-west along the city's southern coastline and separate residential areas from Ocean Beach, which is traditionally divided into St. Clair Beach at the western end and St. Kilda Beach to the east.

St Clair Beach, Dunedin

Inner city

Dunedin is the furthest city in the world from London at 19,100 km (11,870 mi) (90 km (56 mi) more than Invercargill, and 100 km (62 mi) more than Christchurch), and from Berlin at 18,200 km (11,310 mi). Its antipodes are some 300 km (190 mi) north of the Spanish city of A Coruña.

Dunedin City has a land area of 3,314.8 square kilometres (1,279.9 sq mi), slightly smaller than the American state of Rhode Island or the English county of Cambridgeshire, and a little smaller than Cornwall. It was the largest city in land area in New Zealand until the formation of the 5,600 km2 (2,200 sq mi) Auckland Council on 1 November 2010. The Dunedin City Council boundaries since 1989 have extended to Middlemarch in the west, Waikouaiti in the north, the Pacific Ocean in the east and south-east, and the Waipori/Taieri River and the township of Henley in the south-west.

The thriving tertiary student population has led to a vibrant youth culture (students are referred to as 'Scarfies' by people who are not students), consisting of the previously mentioned music scene, and more recently a burgeoning boutique fashion industry.[36][37] A strong visual arts community also exists in Dunedin, notably in Port Chalmers and the other settlements which dot the coast of the Otago Harbour, and also in communities such as Waitati.

By 1990, population decline had steadied and slow growth has occurred since and Dunedin re-invented itself as a 'heritage city' with its main streets refurbished in Victorian style.[35] R.A. Lawson's Municipal Chambers (Dunedin Town Hall) in the Octagon were handsomely restored. The city was also recognised as a centre of excellence in tertiary education and research. The university's and polytechnic's growth accelerated. Dunedin has continued to refurbish itself, embarking on redevelopments of the art gallery railway station and the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum.

During the 1980s Dunedin's popular music scene blossomed, with many acts, such as The Chills, The Clean, The Verlaines, and Straitjacket Fits, gaining national and international recognition. The term "The Dunedin Sound" was coined to describe the 1960s-influenced, guitar-led music which flourished at the time.[34] Bands and musicians are still playing and recording in many styles.

By 1900, Dunedin was no longer the country's biggest city. Influence and activity moved north to the other centres ("the drift north"), a trend which continued for much of the following century. Despite this, the university continued to expand, and a student quarter became established. At the same time people started to notice Dunedin's mellowing, the ageing of its grand old buildings, with writers like E.H. McCormick pointing out its atmospheric charm.[33] In the 1930s and early 1940s a new generation of artists such as M.T. (Toss) Woollaston, Doris Lusk, Anne Hamblett, Colin McCahon and Patrick Hayman once again represented the best of the country's talent. The Second World War saw the dispersal of these painters, but not before McCahon had met a very youthful poet, James K. Baxter, in a central city studio.

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